Down Time
by Hatsu Yukiya
Summary: America thinks China needs to loosen up a little, so in pure American fashion he takes her to a playground. The two of them end up getting a little more than they bargained for.


**Hi! Okay, before you read the story: Yes. This will have a Nyotalia character in it. China, specifically. I am aware that the Nyotalia girls get a lot of hate in the Hetalia fandom. I believe the reason for this is that they get in the way of the fangirls' yaoi pairings. Honestly? I don't like yaoi. But you won't see me going around spewing off hate on every yaoi fic I come across. So please don't review just to rant about how much you hate Nyotalia. Not everyone likes the same things. If you have a problem, just pretend it's the normal China.**

**I apologize for my seriousness :/ please enjoy the story!**

**xXx**

America leaned back in his chair and stretched. It was nearing the end of a surprisingly productive Allied meeting, and the hero was pretty satisfied. Right now, England and France were bickering quietly over something or another, and Russia was watching them with that creepy smile of his. Occasionally, the large nation's eyes would flicker over to the closed door and back again. America knew he was waiting for China, who had left the room to do...something. He couldn't remember exactly what. Maybe do her hair. Or whatever it was that girls did.

America thought it was disturbing, the kind of interest Russia had taken in China. She was pretty tiny and weak-looking, even if she was the oldest nation still alive. Russia, on the other hand, was huge and intimidating and didn't have a strange (yet oddly endearing, though America would only admit it to himself) accent tacked on to the end of his sentences.

"Shut the fuck up, you bloody frog!" England shouted suddenly. He stood up, face red with rage.

"Why are you getting so upset, mom ami?" France purred. "All I did was state an obvious fact, non?"

"I am not the fucking black sheep of Europe!"

"Oui, you are~ And that is why nobody likes you!"

England let loose an infuriated screech and lunged for the Frenchman's throat. Throttling him, the pair fell to the ground engaged in a fist fight. Russia sat there staring, amused, and America burst out laughing. They rolled around, shouting and punching and making a spectacular amount of noise. Which was almost drowned out by the door to the meeting room slamming open and the succeeding "AIYAAA!"

China, in all her minimal glory, was standing in the doorway, furious, wok in hand. Although she was the only female nation in the Allies, she let off a kind of aura that sent the message "I'll try to be nice, but you had better damn well acknowledge me." This was clearly remembered as France and Britain immediately ceased their struggling.

"Knock that off, aru!" she demanded. "How old are you? You are giving me a headache!"

It was certainly a credit to China how intimidating she could make herself, as she barely stood five feet tall and kept her hair in two really (again, America would never admit it) cute buns on the side of her head. The overly long sleeves on her uniform certainly weren't helping.

However. America was bored, and China had stopped the show.

"Dude, China," he whined. "What was that for? Things were just getting interesting."

The Asian rolled her eyes and muttered "Westerners, aru…" Then, raising her voice, she answered, "They need to act their ages, aru. Besides, we are at war? How are we supposed to get anything done if we are fighting amongst ourselves all the time, aru?"

France and England said nothing. Britain simply stormed out of the room. He was followed by Russia, who remained silent. There was a beat of silence during which the other three stated after them, before America and China turned back to each other. France leaned on his hand and watched them with interest.

"You need to have fun more, dude." America yawned.

"I have fun all the time, aru! I just know where and when to restrict myself!"

"Whatever. You never have fun!"

"Yes I do, aru! Why are we even having this argument?"

"I know!" America jumped out of his seat, blue eyes sparkling with excitement. "You're coming with me, come on." He grabbed one of China's black sleeves and began dragging her out of the room.

"Ah! Where are you taking me, aru?"

"You'll see!"

Their voices soon faded as they rounded the hall corner. France looked down in the direction they went in with interest, then called out, "Oi, Amerique just kidnapped a cute girl!" The look on England's face as he came thundering down the hall was priceless.

**xXx**

"America seriously, let go, aru! I am perfectly capable of following on my own!"

The grip on China's sleeve slackened, and she rubbed her wrist sullenly. America grinned at her. The two of them had stopped outside the meeting building, and the sounds of New York City were quieter here. It was starting to get late in the day, and they were in a quieter section of the city anyway.

"So," China began, crossing her arms. "Exactly what's the big deal, aru?" America pointed his finger at her dramatically.

"You're going to have fun with me!"

He got a deadpan stare in return. "You realize how that sounded, right, aru?"

"Chinaaa," America whined, but was cut off by her.

"Shut up, aru!" she hissed. "Don't say that name! We're in public, aru!"

"I forgot your human name though," the American pouted. "Wasn't it like Shun Yan or something?"

"It's Chu'nyan!" China snapped, pronouncing it _keen-yahn_. "Get it right, aru."

"Alright, alright." America rubbed the back of his neck. "Jeez, what's your problem today?"

"It might be that I have to work for jerk England 24/7 and my back hurts and Russia's creeping on me all the time and I have stupid Americans taking me places I don't want to go when what I really want to do is go home, aru!"

America blinked, surprised at the outburst, and secretly felt slightly guilty.

"Uh, okay," he said, "I swear this won't take too long."

China sighed. "Fine, let's go, aru. Best to get it over with…"

He led her down a few blocks, past street vendors and civilians hurrying home to their daily lives, until America stopped abruptly at a gated park. A playground was set up in the center of a rolling circle of grass. "Come on!" America said, pulling China inside. He raced towards the equipment, leaving China to slowly meander her way further inside the fence.

"Chu'nyan, hurry up!" America called over. China walked doubtfully over to the swing set, but only ran her fingers over the smooth seat, not sitting down. The park had been abandoned for the day, and the orange sunlight mixed with dark shadows stretching across the grass.

For a moment, the only sounds were crickets and distant traffic. It was almost peaceful.

That was before America came up behind China and lifted her like a little kid into the swing in front of her.

"America what are you doing, aru!"

"Grab on!" he instructed cheerfully as he grabbed the swing's chains and began pulling it backwards. China barely had time to get a grip on the chains before America let loose, sending the swing flying.

China emitted a terrified shriek as she found herself sailing through the air. She pulled her legs up to form a tight ball on the seat, clinging to the chains for dear life.

"America!" she squeaked. "Get me off this crazy thing, aru!"

He just laughed as he pushed her forward again.

"Haven't you ever been on a swing before?"

"No I haven't, aru! And I hadn't intended to either!" China's eyes were screwed shut with terror. "Get me off! I'm going to fall off, aru!"

America looked at her, surprised. What kind of childhood did she have? He frowned. China was gonna have fun, dammit!

"Open your eyes first!" he called up. "And relax a little!"

She hesitated, her body becoming more rigid for a moment, before she cracked her eyes open. China squinted, momentarily blinded by the setting sun. Once her eyes adjusted, she was in shock. The clouds seemed so close, almost like she could touch them. The sky was stained orange and pink, and every time America pushed her forward China could feel herself getting lost in it.

"Higher," she whispered, though only to herself.

America smiled. To be honest, he thought her reaction was kind of adorable and China looked really pretty with the sunlight casting rays on her face—

The sound of a car backfiring shattered the moment. America jerked in surprise and shoved China harder than he intended, at the same time her grip loosed when she jumped from the sound. At the swing's peak, China's fingers slipped completely and she flew into the air, landing on her feet but collapsing to the ground a split second later.

"China!" In the heat of the moment America forgot to use her cover name. He dashed over to where she lay and helped her sit up.

"Aiyaa," she hissed, then let out a painful yelp, her slender fingers gripped her leg above the knee.

"You okay?" America asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, aru," China replied, gritting her teeth. "Help me stand up." The Asian put her hand on America's shoulder and lifted herself off the ground. The moment she put weight on her leg, her knee buckled.

"Whoa!" America exclaimed, catching her elbow. "Dude, you sure you're okay?"

"I said I'm fine!" China snapped back, but her voice was thick and she was obviously suppressing tears.

"Is your leg hurt?" America bent down and brushed his fingers over her knee gently. China jerked back.

"Don't do that, aru!"

"Let me look at it!"

"No!"

America frowned before he put one arm around China's shoulders and another beneath her knees, raising her up before lowering her to the ground. Ignoring her protests, America rolled up her pants leg, his eyes widening at the sight of China's knee bent out of shape.

"Okay, this looks bad," he sighed.

"Of course it does, aru. It's a dislocation." China fought back her tears as best she could. Four thousand years old or not, pain was still pain, though she was trying to remain calm about it.

"Should I try and fix it?" America asked. Without waiting for an answer, he reached out for her kneecap and accidentally hit it rather hard.

China whimpered, and that's when the tears started falling. America started.

"Oh jeez, you're crying."

"_Don't–touch–it–aru_!" she gasped out, attempting in vain to dry her eyes.

"Okay, I'm sorry!" he put his hands up in defense.

"We need to go back to the Allies building," she sniffed, "and we can call a doctor or someone there, aru."

"Sure. Umm..." America put his arm around her waist and lifted her to his side. "Put your arm around my shoulders.

China did so, and they awkwardly hobbled out of the park gate. China began crying much harder as they advanced down the street, her breath coming in short sobs. Occasionally she would gasp out, "This is all your fault, aru..." and America didn't argue because he knew it kind of was. There were other things mixed on there too, but China said them in rapid Mandarin that America didn't understand. He figured it was bad though; a Chinese street vendor gaped at them in shock as they passed.

It seemed to take forever, but the two nations were eventually able to reach the building the Allies had meetings in. America pressed his mouth into a straight line. England definitely not going to be thrilled when he saw this, he thought as they stopped short of the stairs.

"Well this is just great," America said, running his free hand through his hair. "How are we doing this?"

China didn't answer, and wiped her eyes with a hiccup.

America brightened. "I know!" He scooped China up in a bridal carry.

China barely stifled a shreik. "That hurts even more, aru!"

"I know, but it's just for right now, okay?"

The American bounded up the stairs two at a time, wondering who the genius was that put the meeting room on the top floor. China tightened her fingers around his bomber jacket as they went. When they reached their destination, America leaned back and kicked the door open.

The surprised faces of England, France, Russia, and that one guy nobody knew turned to stare at them.

"...hey," America said casually. "We've got a bit of a problem."

The three (four?) pairs of eyes looked at him, then went to the crying girl in his arms. Then the room erupted.

"What the bloody hell did you do?" England demanded angrily.

"Nothing!"

"Liar Amerique!" France tried to take China from him. "That is not how you treat a lady!"

America dodged and held China out of reach. "Whoa, hold on Franceypants. I'm not letting you take her! She probably doesn't want to be molested right now!"

China herself, who had had enough, screeched "Put me down, aru!"

The other three calmed almost immediately, looking disgruntled, and America gently lowered her so she could sit on the table.

"So what did happen?" England asked, glancing at his brother suspiciously. America, behind England's back when he turned around, put his hands together and put on a pleading face, mouthing "Please don't sentence me to death China! He'll kill me!"

China's watery eyes glanced from him back to England, before she said dryly, "I fell off a swing."

"He didn't push you?" England pressed.

"What is this, the Inquisition, aru?" China snapped. England stepped back looking affronted. "I fell off and hurt my leg, aru! Can we get a doctor in here to fix it please?"

"I have already done that," Russia said with a creepy smile. "I sensed you needed it, da?"

"We...just came in though..." America said, shooting Russia a bewildered look. The big nation just shrugged and continued smiling.

**xXx**

China let out a relived sigh as her knee was popped back into place. The doctor had shown up a few minutes earlier, and after raising his eyebrows at the four American/European men who had a small Chinese girl crying on their table, had gotten right to work. China was completely disheveled; her face was red and marked with tear trails and her hair was shaken loose and fell in a knotted mess to her waist. But now that the pain was gone she was smiling faintly.

"Thank you, aru," China smiled at the doctor. America slipped him some money as the doctor headed back out the door.

"Thank god that's over," England said, rubbing the back of his neck. He wasn't any better at dealing with crying girls any more than America was. The Brit stretched. "I'm heading home then." Looking at China, he said to her, "Be more careful, will you?"

China rolled her eyes. "Whatever, aru."

England said goodnight and headed out the door, bickering mildly with France. Russia followed them out the door, laughing lightly. China and America shuddered slightly as the mysterious sixth presence also faded out, leaving them alone in the room.

"So, umm..." America nervously broke the silence. "I'm sorry about how that ended up."

"Ah, well," China replied, combing her fingers through her hair. "No lasting damage, aru."

"I guess not." America fidgeted uncomfortably. "So, um, I'll see you tomorrow."

He turned to leave, and was surprised to feel a tug on the hem of his jacket. He twisted his head around to see China looking at him earnestly.

"Um..." she said, looking as squeamish as he did. "I, ah, really did have fun today."

"Before or after the dislocation?"

She laughed a little. "Before, aru."

America smiled, relieved he hadn't screwed up foreign relations or anything. "We should do it again sometime."

China smiled back. "Yes we should, aru."

"See you...tomorrow," he said again, feeling like a moron on the inside.

A grin. "See you tomorrow."

America left and closed the door behind him. He turned to find himself face-to-face with England's smug smile.

"I thought you left!" he said after his heart stopped pounding.

England said nothing and just snickered.

"What?" America demanded.

"You have a crush~"

England was thrilled to see his little brother's face turn bright red.

"S-shut up! I do not!"

"You do."

"_No I don't_!"

"Just admit it." England slung an arm over America's shoulders. "Come on. We'll go to the pub and you can tell me all about it. I'll even pay."

"I do not have a crush," America mumbled. Then he involuntarily remembered the look on China's face while she was on the swing, and how the sun set the whole image aglow.

He did not have a crush.

America glanced back to the door. China was shutting it gently behind her. She caught his eye and waved a little.

...okay, maybe just a little one.

**A/N:**

**Gah that ending sucked.**

**Longest. Oneshot. I've ever written. It's so long! D: I hope it was enjoyable.**

**I don't ship these two, I just thought this might be cute. And dislocations are painful. You kinda lose the ability to think straight. I dislocated my elbow once, and my friend dislocated her knee. She's one of the toughest people I know and she was crying really hard...**

**She jumped off a swing.**

**Thank you for reading and please review!**


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